


All Too Well

by Toryb



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fix-It, Getting Back Together, Hurt/Comfort, inspired by a taylor swift song because i'm trash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-21 12:47:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30021996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toryb/pseuds/Toryb
Summary: Around Betty Cooper, he’s always been weak, but here in this car his defenses are completely broken down.
Relationships: Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Comments: 12
Kudos: 77





	All Too Well

**Author's Note:**

> those stills man, they apparently can rise a dead woman from her grave. In all seriousness though I'm not sure when I'll be writing bughead again but if you're interested in following up with me after I accidentally deleted my blog you can follow me at my URL @bess-turani. I do a lot of Nancy Drew stuff with the occasional (very rare) Riverdale post like this one. I've also been working on a novel that people can ask me questions about if you're so inclined!
> 
> Um, so, thanks I guess!

_ And maybe we got lost in translation  
Maybe I asked for too much  
But maybe this thing was a masterpiece  
Till you tore it all up  
Running scared, I was there  
I remember it all too well _

This car ride sucked. This car ride was shit. This car ride was hell. It was too reminiscent of all those times they had ridden together, wasting away their days in this shitty little town they’d ended up coming back to. Jughead gripped the wheel tightly and tried his best to focus on the road and nothing but the road. This wasn’t how he wanted to spend his life, as a washed up author teaching high school and working at Pop’s while his ex-girlfriend and possibly probably still love of his life asked him to hitch a ride around town so they could investigate whatever the fuck was going in this town that could never solve its own problems.

Music thudded in his ears, having been turned up the most reasonable level of way too loud that could be tolerated by either of them to fill the empty space in the car. Betty sat taking deep breaths and focusing forward on anything and everything but him. He could see every spot they’d ever stood at.

That was the street they’d always taken on their walks to school. They’d made out on that bench one night in the rain until getting caught by one of the passing patrol cars. There was a tree in the back of that old road that had their names carved into it from when they were younger. All those memories came flooding back and it was all too much. He knew every curve of the street, every end of the road, every line of the trees.

Jughead wondered if he knew Betty just as well.

No, he probably knew her better. There may be new scars, but he knew her all too well, the kind of knowing that burned his heart and ate at his soul like acid on an open wound.

Lost in thought, he hadn’t even noticed the light turned red. Jughead slammed on the break, skidding to a halt and barely stopping before the intersection. There weren't that many in town and this one, well, he hadn’t remembered this one during his autopilot driving. Maybe it was new. Or maybe he had just been that distracted.

“What the fuck, Jughead? Are you trying to get us killed?” Betty shouted, gripping the dashboard, eyes on fire as she glared daggers into his soul.

He didn’t know what to say, what to feel. And then suddenly he was feeling everything all at once: the anger, the pain, the frustration, the years of pent up rage at the humiliation of her betrayal, of everyone’s betrayal.

“No, you know what, I should be asking you what the fuck, Betty!”

“What do you mean?” she asked. “You’re the one that almost ran us into the fucking road like an idiot. God, what are you even saying?”

Jughead screamed, slamming his head against the wheel. “Why the fuck weren’t you all there? I was there looking like some toolbag. Poor Jughead Jones, alone again. Sitting at a booth just like fucking freshman year with no friends, no girlfriend, no nothing. And look where I am now! Still nothing! Fuck! Fucking fuck!”

Her expression softened somewhat and she opened her mouth to speak. He cut her off, “No. No, I don’t want you to fake pity me like I know you were going to. I just want an answer, an explanation as to why you of all people didn’t meet me there. I thought maybe even just as a sign of respect for what we had, what we were, you would have. I loved you, Betty, with every fiber of my being, every shred of my soul. I wrote a book about our love story for fuck’s sake and all I get out of it is a tragic story.”

“Oh, Juggie, I loved you too.” She swallowed hard, taking a moment to herself before finally her voice continued, quiet, as tears started to blossom at the corners of her eyes, “Just the same, but I was young and stupid and I made so many bad decisions. I still make bad decisions. I shouldn’t have done what I did, but I did and now I’ll have to live it forever. I was so embarrassed to have to face you like that again, to face everyone like that. Maybe that’s why I didn’t show up. What we did to you and Veronica was messed up and wrong and I thought maybe showing up wasn’t worth it, that you wouldn’t be there, that no one would be there.”

He didn’t know what to say in response, only that his heart hurt more if possible. It ached with the new knowledge, or maybe the unearthing of knowledge that was already there, that his love had not been for nothing and was at least shared in part by the woman who had broken his heart when they were young.

“I’m sorry,” Jughead whispered after a minute. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you the way I did. Or driven as recklessly as I did or did half the stupid shit I did back then or now or I...I don’t even know what I’m saying.”

Betty shook her head, reaching out to touch his face. She paused and pulled her hand back, looking down at it like it was a venomous snake. “Please, don’t be sorry. I’m the one who should be apologizing. I should have said sorry a million times and I should have showed up to Pop’s. It wasn’t fair to you to be like that. It wasn’t fair of any of us but it especially wasn’t fair of me. Not after everything.”

There was a pregnant silence that resonated throughout the car. Neither of them knew exactly what to say as the light changed from yellow to red for the third time since their conversation had begun. Thankfully there were no angry drivers behind them, honking their horns in a hurry to get to work or wherever else they might be going.

And then, suddenly, all at once, Betty had leaned over and kissed him. It was a subtle kiss, the kind of unsure one you might give to someone who was afraid of being rejected. But he couldn’t, not with her, not ever. The second their lips touched it was like coming home. It was a feeling he knew all too well; one that could never be forgotten.

“You kissed me,” he said, pulling away after a moment.

“I did. And, if it’s alright with you, I’d really, really like to do it again.”

Jughead nodded, pulling her in close and tight. They didn’t stop kissing until they heard the honk of the car behind them.

**Author's Note:**

> It felt weird publishing something bughead for the first time in awhile, like I was brand new to the fandom all over again. I hope you guys like it!


End file.
